By David Bergeron and Steven Klinsky. In many respects, higher education in the United States – with credits awarded on time a student sits in a chair – remains trapped in the 19th century and has been slow to embrace technology. Online education from traditionally accredited colleges has been available since at least 1999, but almost always at the same high tuition cost as the traditional “physical” courses. New ideas, such as tuition-free massive open online courses (MOOCs), are now emerging, but are generally not accredited. Read more...

By Shawn E. Fisher. “Now bear with me, Gentlemen, if what I am about to say has at first sight a fanciful appearance.”
--John Henry Cardinal Newman, from The Idea of a University
Imagine your job is to help students get into college, and one of the students you’re advising says to you, “It has always been my dream to study philosophy at Harvard.”
Let’s say that this student is graduating from a private prep school and you know that money will not be a major worry for her either during or after the college years. Read more...

By Paul Fain. A growing number of reform-minded lawmakers on Capitol Hill want to see more of online “innovations” like competency-based education. To help out, some are making noise about changing federal financial aid policy and the accreditation system. That was the message during a hearing Thursday of the U.S. Senate’s Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. The hearing and several emerging pieces of legislation are harbingers of how the looming debate over the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act might shake out. Read more...

By Michael Stratford. As Congress resumed negotiations on the federal budget this week, higher education advocates are once again pressing lawmakers to end automatic spending cuts, which they’ve said are devastating to scientific research. Representatives from both chambers and political parties gathered on Wednesday for the first formal budget talks since Congress reached an agreement earlier this month to reopen the government after a 16-day shutdown and to temporarily raise the nation’s borrowing authority. Read more...

The Education Department is set to issue a package of final regulations on federal student loans that are aimed, in part, at helping distressed borrowers and preventing colleges from manipulating their default rates. In a notice last week, the department said it would officially adopt the rules “within the next several days” (though they would not take effect until next July). In addition to making minor changes to reflect legislative changes, the 423 pages of rules also beef up some protections for federal student loan borrowers. Read more...

Negative ratings pressures have intensified on higher education, according to a Moody’s Investors Service report for subscribers that reviewed the ratings agency's work through the end of the third quarter. There have been 21 downgrades of public colleges and universities this year but no upgrades. That's due to "declining state funding, flat or declining enrollment and lack of expense containment," the agency said. Read more...

Massive open online course provider Coursera will provide physical spaces in which to use its digital content, the company announced on Thursday. Along with five partner organizations, including the U.S. State Department, Coursera will establish "Learning Hubs" at more than 20 locations around the world, including at campuses and U.S. embassies. The hubs will provide free access to the Internet and Coursera's MOOCs, but the company is also promising a more traditional learning experience. Some courses will feature in-person sessions, which can range from tutoring to discussions, moderated by a "local facilitator who has familiarity with the subject." Read more...

By Colleen Flaherty. After two years of slight growth, hiring for faculty positions and other full-time jobs in English and foreign languages was down year-over-year, according to a new report from the Modern Language Association. The annual report on the MLA's Job Information List is published each fall and includes all jobs advertised with the organization for this academic year (reflecting ads posted during the most recent hiring season). Although not every job is advertised with the MLA, the vast majority of full-time, tenure-track positions are, making the list a trusted indicator of the job market. Read more...

By Michael Stratford. The Obama administration expects to have a first draft of its college rating system by this spring, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said Wednesday. After soliciting public input at town hall discussions and hearings at college campuses across the country this fall, the department will convene a “technical symposium” early next year to discuss ratings methodology before releasing a preliminary version for public comment at some point in the spring, Duncan said. Read more...